After I got off the computer I asked Mike to get Savannah dressed for bed and finished getting the last minute items I needed to take with me to the birth center. Contractions were still coming at regular intervals somehwere between 3.5 and 4.5 minutes but only from 30 to 45 seconds in length. I laid down with Savannah to let her nurse to sleep. I was expecting the contractions to get much stronger because of the nursing and laying down but they slowed down quite a bit as soon as I was laying on my side. We laid there for a half an hour and I probably only had 3 or 4 contractions the whole time. They were much more intense than if I had been standing up, so I was glad there weren't too many! As soon as Savannah was asleep, I placed a call to the birth center. At about 10:50pm Chris called back to ask me some questions. I told her how far apart and how long the contractions were and she asked me how long I had been having them - which at this point was about 3 hours. She then asked me how long I had been in labor with Savannah and how painful the current contractions were. I told her I was having one "right now" and she coudn't tell, that I was in labor the first time for 10 hours, and that pain probably shouldn't be a gauge because I was walking and talking through contractions until I was fully dialated the last time. She asked us how far we had to drive and because it would take us about
75 minutes to get there she reluctantly told us to come on over and she would check me. If I wasn't that far along, they would send me to a hotel to spend my early labor there. We left the house at 11 p.m. I must admit, it wasn't a very comfortable ride. The baby was squirming around in extreme amounts which made everything even more uncomfortable. I don't remember what Savannah was doing during my labor with her, but I would have to say this baby was awake almost the whole time I was in labor - and VERY active. Mike was a saint while driving. I made him terribly nervous as he could here me timing contractions with the stopwatch. Periodically, if the beeps were close together, he would start driving too fast, so I would warn him that the police really didn't care if I was in labor or not. . . they might be sympathetic, but would write you a ticket and wish you good luck as they walked off. We arrived at the birth center at about 12:15. Chris let us in, and had me use the bathroom so they could check for protein in my urine. She was also waiting for another couple to come in to be checked (she was at 3cm, Chris popped her sac, and sent her off to the hospital). After I was done she had me go into an examination room and get partially undressed. I squatted through a contraction and hopped up onto the table to have an internal when Chris discovered that there wasn't any KY in the room. She left to find some, and I had to hop down to squat through another contraction, and wait until she came back. Upon examination, she said I was 5cm dialated, the bag was still intact, and the baby's head was in a good position. She let me hop off the table and told me that since I didn't have a room preference she would put me in the "wood" room (big 4 poster oak bed) as she was right handed and it was easier for her to get to me comfortably. I asked her if I could hop in the shower for a little while and she said that would be fine, but I should probably save use of the jacuzzi until I was farther along - somthing to look forward to. The shower felt great! Contractions immediately became much stronger and closer together, but still didn't seem to get any longer. At this point I was bending over during the contractions so the water was hitting my lower back. I don't think the water helped at all, but bending over did. Within about 10 minutes of starting the shower, I had to return to squatting through contractions. Since the shower wouldn't reach me if I was squatting, I decided to turn it off, and fill the tub for a soak. I was hoping to get the water deep enough that it would cover my lower back and take the edge off. As the tub was filling the contractions took another turn and became even stronger. Mike tried to get me to drink some juice, but I knew if I did I would throw it all up - this should have been my first clue that I was no longer in early labor. I had my head resting on the side of the tub, still squatting through contractions. I must have had three or four contractions and remember thinking that if I was only at 5cm they might have to transfer me to the hospital and give me an epidural because I KNEW I could never put up with 5 more cm of increasing intensity. About the time I switched to facing the side of the tub I noticed that it really felt like I had to go to the bathroom. Chris came in and wanted me to stand up so she could listen to the baby, but I told her I really had to go to the bathroom so she said she would wait, and the pressure was probably just the baby. I slowly got out of the tub and onto the toilet. I must have had a contraction or two while there and realized that I didn't have to go to the bathroom after all, but was feeling the urge to push. Chris figured it out before me (that's what they are paid for) and was prepping the room as I was still in the bathroom. As I got up to leave I noticed that I was starting to bleed a bit. I had no bloody show up to this point, and this was more than it would have been were I in early labor - very bloody and mucus-y too. I walked out of the bathroom and another contraction hit. Mike, with juice cup in hand, quickly put it down and had me lean on him until it was over. By this point I knew I really had to push. As the contraction ended I waddled over to the bed and laid down. I remember thinking that the bed was too soft. Chris listened to the baby's heartrate which was still great - up at about 140 - and then checked my dialation. I don't think I was quite 10 because I vaguely remember her telling me that there was a little lip left, as well as the intact bag. I rolled onto my side as soon as she was done and assumed it was o.k. for me to push since I wasn't told not to. I don't think I could have kept myself from it anyhow. Our second stage lasted about 8 minutes. In retrospect, it seemed very fast, but was like slow-motion while going through it. Chris had to warn me once to take deeper, slower breaths so I wouldn't hyperventilate - I came dangerously close to doing so while in labor with Savannah. I had a towel from my shower draped around my upper half (I was cold and didn't manage to have time to get a tshirt on after the shower) so I ended up holding a corner over my mouth during contractions and concentrated on listening to my breathing through it. It worked. On my second push I felt a pop, but knew it wasn't the amniotic sac because there was no gush of fluid. I told Chris and she said it was probably the "front" bag - whatever that may be. It was pretty uncomfortable to push with both my legs down so Mike held one up for me. It kind of made me feel like a cow, but it was a little better that way. Between contractions Chris had Mike get out the amnihook (she had sterile gloves on and couldn't open the drawer and package without ruining them). I had specified in my birth plan that I didn't want the bag ruptured, but figured there must have been a method to her madness. . . well, after the bag was popped (and not a lot of fluid gushed out) Chris jokingly said that this way the bag wouldn't splash all over her. Comic relief and a crowning head. The time of AROM was 1:37am. I couldn't differentiate between the pressure of the bag and the pressure of the baby's head at this point, so the baby must have been right there, In between this and the next contraction Chris told me how she wanted me to breath when she asked me to. . . It's hard to explain, but it was short breaths with an "uh" sound to it. Invariably this was to keep me from pushing when she didn't want me to. Twice in the next contraction she asked me to breathe this way, and at 1:38 Keegan was born. It was extremely low key - Just me, Mike and the midwife in a dimly lit room. There was a nurse on the way, but things moved so quickly, she didn't make it there on time. Chris had me pull Keegan up next to my side as soon as he was far enough out for me to grab. He cried briefly and was very alert. I got to feel the umbilical cord while it was still pulsing, and was able to coax Mike into doing so also. Kind of cool. The placenta was delivered less than ten minutes after that baby - I looked at it this time (didn't really care the last time) and was rather amazed at the size. After hearing a lot of folk talk about it, I thought it was small. What is cool is that you can see the amniotic sac (less the fluid) too. After the placenta was out, Chris checked my perineal area and pronounced it completely intact. She was pleased (as was I) as the baby came out as a compound presentation with his fist alongside his face. I then rolled over onto my other side, moved the baby with me, covered up with the bedding and a HUGE heating pad, and proceeded to get nursing underway. Keegan wasn't much interested at first but we managed to get things going. Amidst a few checks by the nurse (who finally did arrive) we curled up and slept for about an hour until there was enough hot water for baths. We left the center at 6 am, stopped at Krispy Kreme for hot donuts and arrived home in time to be there when Savannah woke up. We continue to be amazed by the simplicity of the whole thing.